Chef transforms Mexican culinary scene off the Las Vegas strip one tortilla at a time

"Milpa" is the Spanish term for a cornfield, but if you utter the word to a local or food-motivated tourist in Las Vegas, they might know it as chef DJ Flores' restaurant, which serves some of the freshest corn tortillas outside of Mexico thanks to his house-ground masa, made using a 600-year-old Mesoamerican technique.

While the Las Vegas Strip is home to a plethora of flashy food joints -- many of which are backed by world renowned celebrity chefs offering culinary experiences to teleport your taste buds anywhere in the world -- it's the modest storefront cafe 6.5 miles from the epicenter of resorts and casinos that's infusing its all-day menu with heirloom Mexican ingredients and preserving rich Hispanic culture like no other place in the area.

Milpa's delicious addition to the local food scene has been winning over locals and visitors since it first opened its doors for takeaway and catering in late 2020, earning national recognition earlier this year when Flores was nominated for Best Chef, Southwest and became a semifinalist for the 2024 James Beard Awards.

Born and raised in Nevada by parents from Puebla, Mexico, Flores told "Good Morning America" he spent the better part of 20 years working his way up in kitchens, sharpening his culinary skills at some of the top Latin-based restaurants Las Vegas had to offer -- including working for respected names like Lorena Garcia, José Andrés, Aitor Zabala, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.

"That was closer to my culture and closer to what I wanted to do," Flores said. "I did not go to culinary school, I learned by jumping in kitchens with a lot of mentorship from chefs who guided me through the know-how. If I wanted to learn more, I looked at the new restaurants to see if there was a chef that was up-and-coming or well-known that I wanted to learn from."

Once Flores felt like he'd "extinguished" his opportunities for new knowledge in Vegas, he recalled thinking, "'No one's doing anything here that's pushing Mexican cuisine.' I would see other restaurants in California or New York or even Mexico City and I was like, 'Wow, they're really doing something with Mexican cuisine.'"

Flores eventually moved to Mexico City in 2013, where he took a stagiaire, or internship, under the tutelage of acclaimed restaurateur Jorge Vallejo at Quintonil.

"I wanted to get myself in the head space there and get to know the ingredients, know the techniques and know the culture," he said of his decision to stage at age 30, when most chefs were taking unpaid roles in their 20s. "I was like 'F it, let's go."

Getting back to his roots

With a move to Mexico City in 2013 where he took a stagiere, learning in the kitchen under the tutelage of acclaimed restaurateur Jorge Vallejo at Quintonil -- eating his way through notable restaurants, markets and street food stalls alike on the side -- Flores' unlocked his true passion for authentic Mexican cuisine, giving him the key to his eventual food business empire.

Eating his way through notable restaurants, markets and street food stalls alike on the side, Flores' unlocked his true passion for authentic Mexican cuisine, giving him the key to his eventual food business empire.

"It was my first experience of a good corn tortilla. For family meals, the staff asked me to go to the molino to get fresh tortillas," he reminisced of picking up the food staple. "I ate it and was like, 'Is everybody eating the same thing?' I was brought up with store-bought tortillas, but to them, [fresh tortillas are] what they eat every day."

He added, "It just kind of blew my mind. I was like, 'How do I take this and take it to to Vegas?'"

The coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately impacted independent restaurants and its employees -- diners were unable to eat inside those establishments, causing a massive drop in sales, even as some restaurants attempted to shift to delivery-only models -- proved pivotal for Flores, the former chef de cuisine at Chica at the Venetian, where he'd lost his job following a three-week bout with COVID-19.

Flores seized the opportunity to band together with fellow unemployed culinary workers and officially launched his dream eatery, Milpa.

"In that first year, I didn't know if it was gonna survive," Flores said, explaining that he took out a second mortgage due to the initial lack of sales.

Shifting strategies, he said, "I kind of geared the menu for to-go [and catering] with the taco bowls and tortillas on the side, and it worked -- we started getting some more sales, I could afford marketing, then we got the attention with the [Las Vegas Review-Journal] locally and it snowballed into what it is now."

With continued buzz and more national recognition from powerhouse food publication Eater, which named Flores' handcrafted Mexican fare the best masa and tortillas in Las Vegas, he knew he was on the right track.

Beaming with pride, Flores said that now, "Everybody loves us, everybody. There's a customer that eats here every single day."

Honoring Mexican heritage with heirloom corn tortillas and traditional techniques

Locals have made sitting in Flores' light-filled cafe, nestled in an unassuming strip mall, part of their daily routines -- their coffee and breakfast or mid-day lunch break. Some have even joined Milpa's staff, like Flores' sous chef, who he said ate there every Saturday for months before getting the job.

"I think it's about now showing these other young cooks or staff members how it should be done, how we're taking care of the ingredients and using them. And we're definitely not really the typical Mexican restaurant," Flores said.

The menu boasts healthy and seasonal Mexican food that marries contemporary tastes with tradition, serving everything from blue corn cinnamon pancakes and mole chilaquiles to roasted vegetable tetelas and braised beef barbacoa tacos -- and, of course, fresh tortillas.

Corn is at the crux of the menu at Milpa -- acclaimed handmade tortillas that come in three colors (red, yellow and blue), which serve as the vehicle for many of Flores' best-known dishes.

Each batch of tortillas is made with fresh masa that Flores and his staff make the traditional way. Flores makes approximately 60 pounds of masa fresh each day, not including catering, and he said he is also continually researching and developing with his team.

He buys 55-pound bags of dried heirloom corn grown by small farmers across multiple agricultural regions of Mexico from Masienda -- a purveyor that sources both indigenous and single-origin grains for acclaimed chefs and home cooks -- and Flores cooks it through an ancient Mesoamerican technique called nixtamalization.

"The corn cooks low and slow in water and calcium hydroxide until the pericarp falls off, so you can get that texture of the corn," he said. "Then you let it steep overnight, and it brings out the nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Then you grind it with the molino, [a volcanic stone milling tool]."

He added, "There's a lot of technical stuff that goes into it. The molino has to be adjusted right. The stones have to be very sharp, and the edges have to be facing a certain way to get that finer masa."

Making a mark on the future of food by reflecting on the past

Flores has made quite the impression within the Vegas culinary scene and said he had "a full circle moment" when he landed a weekly order selling his now-famed corn tortilla base to one of the restaurants he previously worked for.

"I was like, 'OK, what's the next step? If we're getting so much attention, a lot of restaurants are inquiring about our masa and tortillas, how do I grow this, how do I expand? Because now it's definitely time.'"

The chef and owner told "GMA" he now has plans in motion with leases signed and staging and staffing preparations underway to open a full service tortilleria concept that will expand his masa and fresh tortilla output for catering and other vendors, called Cosecha, or harvest in Spanish.

Sticking with his expansion off the strip, he's also set to open a new cocktail bar, Nocturno, next spring, which will serve other Mexican dishes and have a tortilla making area for customers to see the process firsthand.

Flores recently offered a bit of advice to others hoping to make their mark on the world.

Speaking on a panel on culture and representation, to an audience of local college students, he said, "I think you have to go back and explore your heritage, your roots and where you come from just to get to know yourself and your history, so that you know the present and the future."

"Go back. Go visit. Go eat. Go nurture your mind and see what you can bring out of that," he added. "If it wasn't for me going to Mexico City and cooking and eating, I don't think this would have come to fruition."